The Armored Hero
by Augar
Summary: Tony Stark is the genius heir to the multi-billion dollar support conglomerate Stark Industries. Even so, the only thing he ever wanted was to become a hero despite his quirklessness. However, Tony Stark has an idea that will change the face of heroism forever. He will become, the Armored Hero!
1. Chapter 1: Tony Stark

Chapter 1: Tony Stark

* * *

Anthony Edward Stark was what some would call a child prodigy. He was a genius among his peers, some of his teachers were convinced that if he really put his mind to hit he could graduate from college before his 18th birthday. He was a natural born scientist and engineer, at the age of 4 he built his first circuit board and only two years later be built an engine from scratch. Yet, with all these gifts there was one thing Tony Stark desired that he could never have, a quirk. Even so, with his intellect he could easily get into any support course in the country and take over his father's company when the time comes, but that was not his dream. Tony Stark wanted to be a hero since the day that changed his life forever.

* * *

"Yes, I'm completely sure about moving the company to Japan." Howard Stark said over the phone as the car drove down the streets of Mustafu, Japan. 6-year-old Tony Stark was tired, after what felt like forever on an airplane he was finally about to arrive at his new home. "Listen, please don't tell anyone I told you this but what I told the shareholders about the 'evolving hero market' was bullshit."

"Howard!" Maria Stark exclaimed, "Not in front of Tony!" she said as she covered the young boy's ears.

Howard mouthed a quick apology to his wife as he continued his conversation, "I just have to be in Japan for the foreseeable future. I can't tell anyone why it's just something I have to do." Howard continued, "No I don't need you over here! Obie listen, I need someone I can trust back in the States please, just trust me on this. I'll call again once we get the factory up and running." Howard hung up the phone turned to his wife, "Sorry about that, it's just… I'm sorry for putting you all through this."

"Howard. You know I don't mind, you told me how important this was." Maria replied. "If you should be apologizing to anyone it's Tony he's still not over leaving that engine he built behind." She said with a laugh.

"Yeah our son is a genius!" Howard exclaimed "Aren't you Tony?"

The 6-year-old simply yawned and asked the only thing that had been on his mind for the past few hours, "How much longer till we get there dad?"

Howard sighed, "I don't know Tony. This traffic is getting really bad and we're still a few miles away." The car and all the traffic around it had been brought to a complete stop. Howard asked the drive "What do you think's happening? Is the traffic usually this bad?"

"I don't know sir, could be a villain attack up ahead, those happen every once and a while." The driver looked back and saw how worried Maria had become, "Don't worry ma'am, crime rates have been plummeting ever since All Might showed up. He's the greatest hero in the world!"

Suddenly the young Tony Stark heard the loudest sound he had ever heard in his life. Explosions rocked the streets around them, "Maria! Take Tony and get out of the car!" his father's cry was the last thing he remembered before the sounds grew louder and louder, and his world was overtaken by darkness.

* * *

Tony carried the scars from the attack that took the life of his mother from that day forward. The doctors told the young boy that his mother had died shielding him from the explosions, but unfortunately Tony had been struck by shrapnel they were unable to remove without a high risk of killing the child. In order to, prevent the shrapnel from reaching his heart, he had to wear an implanted electromagnet for the rest of his life. For 6 years he had to drag around a car battery to power said electromagnet until he succeeded in miniaturizing one of his father's most important inventions, the Arc Reactor. From there Tony came up with an idea, one that could potentially help him accomplish his dream. His dream to stop other's from facing the same pain he did, to prevent other from dealing from the hardships he endured, his dream to become a hero.

* * *

"GODDAMN IT!" Tony screamed, the sound echoing throughout his workshop. For someone who was only 14 his workshop was state of the art, containing everything he needed to build his masterpiece. Yet, as the date of the U.A. High School entrance exams drew closer, it had become increasingly clear to the young Tony Stark that said masterpiece was not going to be finished in time.

The elevator door slid open as a man in a wheelchair emerged from the entryway, "Tony… I could hear you from upstairs if you're going to refuse my help at every turn you could at least keep it down" Howard Stark said with a sigh.

Tony sighed, defeated, "Sorry dad… I just… God this is so frustrating. I wanted to have it completed before the exam but…"

"If it's not going to be ready then focus on perfecting what you have Tony. You have the gauntlets finished right?" Tony nodded. "You are fully capable of passing the exam if the gauntlets are perfected."

"Yeah I just have to solve 'explodes 20% of the time' problem and maybe I'll survive the exam with my hands intact" Tony said sarcastically. Howard sighed, Tony knew full well that if he would just let him help he could figure out the problem in no time. "Dad I know you want to help me with this but… it's just something I have to due on my own. If I can't fix this relatively minor problem on my own… then I'm just not cut out to be a hero."

"Alright son, I understand." Howard said as he wheeled himself towards the elevator, "Tony… I'm really proud of you. You can do this." He said just before the doors closed

"Sir I believe that it's my responsibility to point out you have been making use of my subsystems to try to diagnose the problem" JARVIS, the Stark's personal computer system, chimed in.

"JARVIS you're different!" Tony exclaimed, "If I got dad to help he'd just use his quirk to solve the problem… I can't rely on quirks like everyone else." It was true, Howard Stark's quirk was called, Machine Voice, it gave him control over machines, the more advanced a machine was the more control Howard could exert upon it, but he could still fix the simplest of machines in no time at all. "Alright JARVIS pull up the schematics on the gauntlets again I want to try some adjustments."

* * *

 **AN: Well this is an idea I've had for a very long time and I just haven't had the time to write it down. So with season 3 coming out soon I thought now would be the best time to start. Next chapter will be the entrance exams!**


	2. Chapter 2: Test Drive

Chapter 2: Test Drive

The specifics of the UA High School Entrance Exam were a remarkably well-kept secret. What was known was that the test was divided into two sections, a practical exam followed by a written exam. Tony was not worried about the written exam at all to the point where he did not even study for it. The practical was the challenge, what he did know is that it involved combat of some kind which could be a problem depending on his opponents. He was correct in his assumption that his armor would not be finished in time for the exam. What little he could finish was stored in a briefcase that he now carried with him.

"Alright Mr. Stark here we are, UA High." Said the driver. "Good Luck sir."

"Thanks Happy" Tony said nervously as he stepped out of the car, Happy was one of the few employees that had been with the Stark Household since before the move to Japan, after the accident he was made the head of Tony's personal security detail. As Tony entered the school, following the flow of people, he approached the entrance to the auditorium where the applicants were expected to sign in. What was especially odd is that each desk was manned by identical figures, Tony recognized them as clones of the pro hero Ectoplasm.

"Name" the clone spoke in a deep echoed voice.  
"Tony Stark" he replied as he handed his forms to the clone

The clone looked over the forms, Tony noticed that he had more paperwork than most other students, most likely due to his heart. "Everything seems to be in order," the clone spoke as he handed Tony a card, "This card contains your examinee number and your assigned battle center for the practical. You've been assigned to battle center C. You will also need to turn in this card when you finish with the written exam please do not lose it." The clone rattled of the recycled speech that the had spoken hundreds of times already, "One more thing, you will leave your belongings here until the end of the exam, is there anything that you wish to take into the battle center?"

Tony gulped, "Just the contents of this briefcase sir." Tony said as he placed the briefcase on the desk for the pro hero to inspect.

The clone opened up the briefcase and a look of confusion appeared on his face, "I can't say I've seen anything like this before…" the hero paused as Tony grew more and more nervous, "But I see no reason to disallow it. I look forward to seeing its applications, good luck Mr. Stark."

* * *

The orientation assembly was thankfully brief. The pro-hero, Present Mic, tried his best to alleviate his audience's stress over the coming trials, but expecting audience participation from a crowd of nervous teenagers was a long shot at best. Tony was grateful that his opponents would be robotic, he was confident that his newly developed repulsors would make short work of them. What worried him was the fourth faux villain, the 0-pointer. The way Present Mic described it as an obstacle to avoid rather than an enemy to be fought worried him. Why would a prestigious hero school discourage heroism in their opening exam?

Tony thought on this as he prepared his inventions. The examinees were told that they would have 20 minutes to prepare for the exam then they would be bussed down to there respective battle centers. Unfortunately, he would have to change clothes now. He excused himself to the provided locker rooms where he began to put on his outfit. His shirt was specially designed for this, it was tight fitting and had a hole cut out in the middle for the arc reactor. He then opened his briefcase to reveal his secret weapons. Inside there were two silver arm pieces, he had finished the armor plating on them just last night. As of now they only fit up to his forearms and he regrettably had been unable to paint them before the exam. There was a harness that slung over his shoulders and back forming an X pattern across his torso, in the center of the harness was a secondary arc reactor. He then ran two highly insulated wires under his shirt, connecting the secondary reactor to the gauntlets. Next, he donned a clear facemask, which would provide his HUD, and an earpiece to allow communication with JARVIS. Lastly, was something he always carried around with him, a belt. This belt was special however, it contained several tools that would allow Tony to make quick repairs to any equipment along with palladium and a spare arc reactor for emergencies.

"Alright JARVIS you there?" Tony inquired

"At your service sir." The AI replied as Tony walked out of the locker room. He walked through the hallways of the school towards the meeting center for battle center C. Tony noticed the odd looks he was getting from the other examinees.

"JARVIS is everything working fine?" Tony inquired.

"Yes sir I can detect no problems with you're gear as of now."

"That's good, continue monitoring and inform me of any abnormalities you detect."

"Of course sir"

As Tony was walking towards the designated meeting place for his assigned battle center, he was approached by a fellow examinee with red spiky hair "Hey you headed for battle center C?" he asked.

"Yeah" Tony replied

"That's great! I'm Eijiro Kirishima, I'm also in C." The teenager said enthusiastically

"Nice to meet you, I'm Tony Stark."

"Wait... Stark? As in Stark Industries? Largest support company in the world Stark Industries!?" Kirishima exclaimed

"The one and only." Tony said with a smirk

"Wait so shouldn't you be trying out for support then? I mean, your company is worth billions isn't it?" Kirishima asked

"46.5 billion US dollars to be exact, and you don't make that kind of money by doing what people expect."

"Fair enough, so what's with that getup? I've never seen support gear like this! Does it have something to do with your quirk?"

This is what Tony had been afraid of, while he wasn't ashamed of his quirklessness he certainly didn't want people to write him off because of it. Before he revealed his secret, he'd have to prove himself as a fully capable hero in training. "Yeah something like that…" he said. Which was technically not a lie, though not technically true either.

"Keeping your quirk a secret before the big exam, don't worry man I get it."

"Alright examinees! Onto the bus!" a teacher shouted.

"Oh, look like it's show time, good luck Tony" Kirishima said

"Yeah you too" Tony replied

* * *

"RUN RUN RUN LISTENERS! YOU'RE WASTING AIR TIME HERE!" Present Mic shouted from an observation tower, apparently countdowns were a foreign concept at UA.

"Alright JARVIS its show time." Tony said as he ran into the battle center, the circles on his palms beginning to glow. The initial chaos made it difficult to track down an opponent, but soon enough he ran into his first encounter, a 1-pointer. "Moment of truth" he said to himself as he raised his palm towards the machine. At that moment, energy from his arc reactor was fed into his gauntlets. There, the energy was used to create a concussive blast that could be used for a variety of purposes. The energy was released from Tony's palms towards the 1-pointer, the force from the blast was strong enough punch through the robot's steel plating, disabling it permanently. Tony was elated, his invention worked like a charm, "JARVIS," he muttered, "remind me to tone down the power when facing human targets"

"Of course sir, would you like me to keep score for you?" JARVIS replied

"Don't lose count." Tony replied sarcastically

"and your music?"

Tony paused for a moment scanning for a suitable opponent for him to face, "Hit it." He said, as he charged towards a nearby 3-pointer.

* * *

 **A/N: Rest of the exam will be in the next chapter. I wanted to get this out to you since I'm going to be busy over the weekend and probably won't have a chance to write for a while. Thanks for reading feedback is appreciated.**


	3. Chapter 3: Overload

**Chapter 3: Overload**

"Who's that examinee?" the pro hero Midnight asked, "Battle center C, the one with the gauntlets." She specified "Those lasers are an interesting quirk."

"That's not his quirk." Said Power Loader, "That's support gear, damn impressive gear at that! Ectoplasm you remember this kid when you checked him in?"

"Yes, I remember those gauntlets" Ectoplasm answered, "I believe he said his name was Tony Stark."

A rather emaciated, skeleton of a man in the back of the room looked towards the student in question. "Stark…" he muttered to himself, "That's impossible…"

* * *

Tony finished off yet another robot, a two pointer 2. His gear had been working flawlessly for the entirety of the exam.

"Alright JARVIS how many was that?"

"28 points sir" The AI replied.

"Fantastic! These things work like a charm! Any more robots in the area?" Tony inquired

Suddenly the ground began to shake as a nearby building completely collapsed. The ruins of the building were obscured by a massive pillar of dust, "Sir I'm detecting several tremors in the area."

"You think?" Tony replied sarcastically, "JARVIS what's going on?"

"Sir a massive signature similar to that of the robots you have been fighting just appeared from that building."

As the dust began to clear JARVIS's estimate was confirmed. A massive robot the size of a building was rolling towards the examinees on tank treads. The terrified children began to scatter, fleeing from the terrifying mountain of metal that had appeared before them. Suddenly Tony's earlier confusion over the zero pointer was made clear. The teachers were not discouraging heroic actions, instead they were examining how the students act in a hopeless situation. Tony observed several students fleeing into nearby buildings who were either unaware or had yet to process that the very same robot they were fleeing from had just destroyed several buildings. He knew he had to do something but what could he do, he was just a quirkless kid with fancy gauntlets and heart injury.

"JARVIS, get me a scan of that thing, I need you to find me an access point." Tony asked as an admittedly reckless idea came into his head.

"Left side, joint with left tread and leg. Sir I don't know what you're doing but I highly advise you to reconsider." JARVIS advised

"No can do," Tony replied as he ran towards to robot, ignoring the flow of people fleeing in the opposite direction.

When Tony came alongside the robot's leg, he noticed just how high up the access panel was. While the tread would provide a good place for him to stand while he executed his plan, the platform was at least 20 feet above the ground. "JARVIS, can my gauntlets provide enough force to get me up there!?" Tony yelled due to the amount of noise the robot was making.

"Theoretically yes, but it would use more than half your remaining power reserves." JARVIS answered

"Do it." Tony replied as he prepared to jump. He jumped as high as he could next to the tread, as he reached the peak of his jump the gauntlets fired a massive burst of energy propelling him up. He just barely managed to grab onto the edge. Once he pulled himself onto the robot he quickly located the access panel. Tony rummaged around in his belt until he retrieved the appropriate screwdriver. As he removed the panel he was greeted with a mess of wires, "JARVIS any chance you can shut off the power to the legs from here?" Tony asked.

"No sir, it's possible to overload the power from here but my programming is preventing me from doing so." JARVIS answered.

"What!?" Tony replied in disbelief

"Sir, I am required to inform you that having me disable this robot would be cheating." JARVIS answered

"Damnit dad…" Tony muttered

"Alright, hypothetically if I wanted to use the arc reactor to overload the robot, where would I plug myself in and how much power would it use?"

"Removing the green wire from it's plug and replacing it with the connector to your gauntlet would create a connection between your reactors could generate enough power to trigger a circuit breaker within the robot. However, doing so would likely overload both of your arc reactors."

"How likely?" asked as he unplugged the green wire.

"70% chance."

"I'll take those odds." Tony said as he plugged himself into the robot. "JARVIS, monitor my condition call help if things go south."

"Yes sir"

"Overload the reactor." Tony said just before he was hit with a wave of pain.

* * *

Mina Ashido had guided a group of terrified examinees into a nearby building. Once that giant robot appeared, she lost interest in gaining more points her top priority was now to make sure everyone else was safe. She very nearly regretted this decision, as the constant shaking produced by the robot nearly brought down the building on top of them. However, just before the robot reached their location it stopped. The lights in its eyes went completely dark, as if the robot had simply run out of gas. Mina stepped out of her hiding place to observe what had happened. What she saw shocked her. On top of the robot's treads was a young man gripping his chest in pain, trying to tear some device off his chest. Mina quickly ran to find a place to climb up. When she found none, she used her acid to create footholds in the robot's armor to pull herself up.

"Are you ok!?" She yelled as the examinee collapsed onto his back. Mina caught the scent of an electrical fire, she assumed that this boy was responsible for stopping the robot.

"Oh, it's nothing…" he said, Mina was relived she thought something serious was happening, "I'm just going into cardiac arrest." He continued pain evident in his voice despite his sarcasm, "Mind giving me a hand?"

"Oh shit..." Mina muttered as the blood drained from her face. She soon snapped out of her temporary trance, " _This is it_ " she thought to herself " _Time to be a hero_!"

"W-What do you need me to do?" she asked, trying to hide the fear in her voice

"Alright listen carefully..." the boy grunted in pain, "I've got about 3 minutes left before my heart stops completely so we've got to make this quick." said quickly before guiding her through removing his harness. It was a simple enough task, but the odd machine in the middle intrigued her. "Oh shit..." she heard the boy say.

"What's wron- oh my god what's that…" Mina said in shock as she saw the boy's chest. In the middle was some sort of machine, similar to the in the center of the harness, but while the that machine produced a faint glow this one was completely dark with smoke rising from several exposed wires.

"Belt, left side, large pocket." The boy said quickly as moved his arm towards his chest, straining as he did so. He pushed down on the strange device and twisted it slightly, it popped out just enough for it to be removed. "I need you to replace this device with the one on my belt… should be simple…" he said, pushing through the pain.

Mina did as instructed, but she became more and more worried about this boy. What was he doing with such a large hole in his chest. Once she plugged in the new device, it began to glow blue, much brighter than even the harness did. She carefully guided the wires back into the boy's chest and secured the device.

The boy sighed in relief, "Ok… my heart rhythm is already returning to normal…" He still straining to get the words out, "Thanks Pinky."

Before she could respond with her name, Present Mic's voice filled the arena "TIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIME'S UP!"

The boy chuckled, "Least I stayed conscious for this long…" he said as he closed his eyes.

* * *

 **A/N: Season 3 came out… I've yet to watch it unfortunately. Had to do a 5 pager about the historical memory of the Pacific War (if you're ever down in central Texas I highly recommend visiting the museum in Fredericksburg). I'm waiting until next week when episodes 1 & 2 of the dub come out (you can take Chris Sabat's All-Might over my dead body). In other news, has anyone else been watching Darling in the Franxx, by God episode 13... that episode destroyed me emotionally. **


	4. Chapter 4: Reactor

**Chapter 4: Reactor**

* * *

"We're getting reports of massive explosions in central Mustafu. We have confirmed reports of casualties on the ground, but the size and scale of this disaster remains unknown. Police have yet to determine the cause of these explosions, but heroes are on the scene rescuing survivors." The news anchor's disbelief at the events unfolding was audible even over the radio.

Dr. Ho Yensin stepped out of his car and ran towards the hospital. Today was supposed to be his day off, but he decided that, with the scale of this disaster, even his mere presence could make the difference between life and death. To many, the term "hero" only referred to those superpowered guardians such as All-Might and Endeavor, but while he never took the license exam nor attended a prestigious hero course, to his patients Dr. Yensin was the embodiment of that term. A brilliant surgeon, his family had lived in Japan since his Great-Grandfather fled Tibet during the Second Chinese Civil War.

"Dr. Yensin!" A nurse ran up to the doctor panting. Yensin understood why, major disasters like this were hell on the hospital staff, "Thank God you're here. You're needed in operating room 3."

"What's the situation? How many injured?" Yensin asked as he headed towards the OR.

"We're not sure yet, heroes keep bringing in more and more injured." The nurse replied

"What about my patient?"

"He's a child, can't be more than 8 years old and he's in critical condition." The nurse explained

"Oh my God…" Yensin muttered quietly so the nurse couldn't hear. He swallowed his fear, fear would only make things worse, he needed to stay calm, "What are his injuries like?"

"He was located near the center of the explosion, it's a miracle he's still alive. We think that his mother shielded him from the worst of it, but the doctors think he was hit by shrapnel but are unsure how much damage it did."

Yensin now understood why they need him. His quirk _Metal Detector_ allowed him to discern the state of metal objects within a certain range, their size, shape, composition, even their velocity could be determined in a matter of seconds. "What about the parents?"

"The mother was dead on arrival, she shielded the boy with her own body. The father was blown back from the explosion. He's still alive but he has sustained sever damage to the spinal column." The nurse said

"Have they been IDed yet?" Yensin asked, in situations like these it is very important to have all the information you can gather about your patients. Previous medical history, allergies, blood type, all could be essential when it comes to saving a life.

"Not yet" the nurse replied

"Alright, thank you for your help." He said to the nurse as she ran off to direct the incoming staff.

Yensin soon arrived at the OR and was immediately shocked at what he saw. The young boy's chest was covered in blood and several entry wounds were visible. He directed the other doctors to step aside while he used his quirk to discern the situation. As he waved his hand over the boy's chest the blood drained from his face, this was more serious than he feared. He had never seen anything like this, the shrapnel was moving towards the boy's heart at an alarming rate. They didn't have time to remove it all before the boy died from his injuries, "I…" he stuttered. Yensin had an idea, nothing like this had ever been attempted before, but it was the only way to save this child. He pointed at one of the nurses, "I need you to go out to my car… remove the battery and bring it to me." He threw his keys at the young nurse.

"Doctor what are you planning?" One of the other doctors asked in shock.

"The only thing that can save this boy's life. The shrapnel is rapidly moving towards his heart. We need to stop it before it does permanent damage."

"You" he pointed at another nurse, "Go to one of the MRI's and tell the staff there to remove the tertiary electromagnet and bring it back to me." she quickly left the room to do as asked.

"Sir! Can we not simply remove the shrapnel?!" The other doctor asked.

"No, much of the shrapnel is dangerously close to his vital organs and blood vessels, attempting to remove it could accelerate the damage." Yensin calmly explained.

Yensin prepared to direct the surgery, it would require removing a portion of the boy's sternum to make room for the magnet, but Yensin was confident in his abilities. He **will** save this boy's life.

* * *

"I cannot believe you did this Tony…" Doctor Yensin chastised the teenager as he was taking the written test in the nurse's office. Happy had called the doctor and told him what had happened, and he immediately drove down to UA to check up on the boy. His state was fragile even today, Yensin estimated that he could last maybe 5 minutes without power to his heart before he sustained life threatening damage and the young man had been pushing 4 today.

"Hang on…" Tony replied focused on his test. Luckily for Tony, the school administration had allowed Tony to take the written exam on the promise that Recovery Girl would supervise.

"No I will not 'hang on!'" Yensin yelled, "You risked permanent damage to your heart to get into a goddamned high school!"

Tony put down his exam, "No… I risked permanent damage to my heart to stop a robot from collapsing buildings onto people!"

Yensin sighed, "Tony, I know you want to become a hero, but I still highly advise against it. There's just so much that can go wrong with your reactor and you won't always have an easy replacement on hand."

"I don't care… I have to do this." Tony replied calmly returning to his exam.

He was so frustrating to deal with sometimes, but he couldn't deny his tenacity. Even in the face of overwhelming odds Tony Stark kept pushing towards his goals. Yensin then turned to Recovery Girl, "If he passes his exams I'll have to meet with you, to fully discuss his condition.". He still didn't agree with Tony's decision but nothing he could say would stop him.

"Of course," she replied, "I never expected to see a teenager undergo cardiac arrest." She sighed, "and young man!" she said to Tony

"Yes?" he said, distracted.  
"You better thank that girl who saved you today, I doubt you'd be alive without her!" Recovery Girl said.

Tony simply nodded as he continued with his exam.

* * *

A week had passed since the exam with no word from the school. His father had not been happy to hear what he had done and considered severely punishing Tony. However, after he explained that he had tried to stop the robot without nearly killing himself, but _someone_ had placed a block on JARVIS preventing him from doing so, his father relented and let his son off with a token punishment. Said "punishment" was t increase the efficiency of his reactor by at least 75%. More of a challenge than a punishment, he enjoyed working on his armor, he also looked into increasing his mobility while wearing the full suit. If he had not used most of is power getting on top of that robot, perhaps his reactor would not have overloaded.

"Tony!" his father shouted as he rolled himself out of the elevator and into the workshop. "It's here, the results." Tony jumped up and snatched the letter from his father.

"Thanks dad!" he said, "Could you let me open this by myself…" he requested.

"Of course." Howard replied as he exited the room.

Tony examined the envelope that held the key to his future. If he didn't get into UA, all of his work would have been for nothing. There was no point in dwelling on the consequences of that, so he tore open the envelope and was greeted with a projection.

"I AM HERE AS A PROJECTION!" The holographic All-Might greeted. Tony was taken aback, the last thing he expected was for All-Might to be the one announcing the results. "Anthony Stark, while you did exceptionally well on your written test, in fact you got a perfect score, you only scored 28 combat points on the practical."

"Oh no…" Tony muttered to himself. **Only** 28, meaning that that was not enough to get in. "Damn it…" he started

"Fortunately, combat points were not the only factor!" All-Might said. Tony looked back up towards the projection as All-Might continued his speech. "A panel of judges watches the exam looking for those who display heroic traits, perseverance, awareness, and most importantly selflessness. You noticed the potential danger that the 0-pointer robot posed to your fellow examinees and took action when no one else would, even at the cost of your own safety. We couldn't in good consciousness reject a potential hero such as yourself! As such the judges saw it fit to award you 30 rescue points!"

A scoreboard flashed up with the top 10 highest scores among the examinees. Line after line of Japanese names, but at the very last spot, 10th place, was the odd name out: **Anthony Edward Stark**.

"Congratulations Tony, and welcome to your Hero Academia!"

* * *

 **A/N: I thought it would be interesting to include a flashback about the aftermath of the disaster that injured Tony. I originally didn't plan for Yensin to be the doctor, however I found out that in his original backstory he was from a fictional country that might has well have been called "Not Tibet". Full disclosure, I know nothing about medicine or MRIs. I'm a history major for Christ's sake! I also thought it would be interesting to speculate on what happened in the immediate aftermath of quirks appearing, so that's where the "Second Chinese Civil War" idea came from. I might throw more of these alt-history gags in here in the future so keep an eye out and thanks for reading!**


	5. Chapter 5: Quirkless Quirks

**Chapter 5: Quirkless Quirks**

Tony just could not keep up with deadlines. He had hoped to have his armor finished by April but solving his own personal energy crisis proved more difficult than he expected. Thankfully, his work paid off as his new arc reactor was over three times as efficient as his previous design. In the time he had left before the term started he had nearly completed his armor, though there were still some bugs that needed to be worked out. He had been working on the prototype almost entirely by hand. Thankfully, his father had promised him full access to the factory once his prototype was completed, meaning any future versions could be built in a few hours instead of a few months. Tony already had several ideas about how his armor could be made more portable, which was the biggest problem he faced at the moment.

Now, the first day of school was upon him. Tony was admittedly nervous, he had never attended a public school in Japan before. Aside from the fact that the material was too basic for him, his father was concerned about his safety after the accident. Had his father's concern not been a factor, it is likely that Tony would have been shipped off to a prestigious university abroad such as MIT or Oxford long ago. Tony was used to learning on the spot, overcoming challenges as they appeared. His advanced knowledge of electronics and chemistry were a result of his development of the arc reactor. His knowledge of math and physics came while he was developing his armor. He sucked ass at history but honestly who cares about that?

Tony was sure that he would draw a lot of attention to himself. Not only was he one of the only foreign students attending the school, but his name alone would be enough to identify him as the heir to Stark Industries. Tony was grateful that the UA uniform included a tie, he wanted to hide his Arc reactor for as long as possible. Having it clearly visible would result in too many questions to answer on the first day. His only concern was that pink girl, while the other examinees only saw his secondary reactor, which could easily be passed off as part of his costume, that girl saw the full implant and the full extent of his injuries. Aside from the noticeably larger tie, Tony also used his tool-belt instead of the belt provided by the school. He didn't really have a choice in this matter, the belt contained the palladium used to power his reactor and as such, keeping this belt near him at all times was a necessity.

Tony entered his classroom, class 1-A. He had tried to arrive before everyone else in order to draw less attention, but one other student had apparently had the same idea.

"Good Morning," the student said, "My name is Tenya Iida from the Somei private academy."

" _Oh god, he's one of those students._ " Tony thought, "I'm Tony Stark, homeschool."

Iida seemed taken aback by this confession, "Oh, well if you ever need any help feel free to ask me…" he trailed off "Wait! Tony Stark? As in Stark industries?"

" _Here it comes…"_ Tony thought, "Yes…"

"Well it's nice to meet you," He replied, "I hope we will both excel in this fine institution."

Tony almost sighed in relief, " _Well that went better than I expected._ "

* * *

More students kept trickling in as the morning went on. Kirishima, the student he had met at the exam, had been glad to see a familiar face. Another student, with particularly messy hair, had already ousted himself out as the token asshat by getting into an argument with Iida soon after he entered the room. Then, a girl with pink skin and hair strolled into the classroom with a huge smile on her face.

"Good morning everyone!" she exclaimed as she looked around the classroom. "Hey, it's you!" she said pointing towards Tony.

"Hey Pinky," Tony said sarcastically.

The girl rolled her eyes, "I have a name you know!"

"Wonderful! So do I," Tony replied, "I'm sure you can forgive me for not asking, considering the _circumstances_ of our first meeting." Tony said as he pointed towards his chest and placed a finger on his lips. " _Don't tell."_ He mouthed towards the girl

She nodded signaling that she got the message, "I'm Mina Ashido." She said

"Tony Stark." He replied, "Thanks for helping me out there." He said

"No problem, after all that's what heroes do isn't it…" her voice trailed off at the end.

" _Here it comes…"_

"Wait… Stark. Haven't I heard that name before?" Mina asked.

Tony knew he couldn't keep his family secret from the class for long, so he decided to answer truthfully.

"Yeah… My father is Howard Stark." Tony saw that Mina was still confused, "He founded Stark Industries."

Mina recognized the name, eyes widening. "Wait! Doesn't that mean you're like a gazillionaire or something!" she said excitedly.

"46.5 billion actually" he muttered under his breath.

"What was that?" Mina asked pretending that she didn't hear.

"Uhh… yeah basically." He replied nervously.

Mina laughed, "That's so cool! I haven't had a famous friend before!" causing both of them to laugh.

* * *

Among the last arrivals to the classroom was certainly one of the most interesting, Izuku Midoriya. He got the highest number of rescue points on the exam, in fact he only got rescue points. According to Iida he took down the 0-pointer with just one punch. Though the undivided attention the class gave him was cut short by the arrival of a homeless man. Said homeless man, Mr. Aizawa, he introduced himself as, was apparently the teacher.

"Let's get to it… Put these on and head outside" he said in a monotone voice lifting up their gym uniforms.

" _Well shit…"_ Tony thought That would mean changing… in the locker room… in front of everyone else, _"So much for hiding the reactor…"_

It didn't take long for the boys to arrive at the locker room and start changing. Tony tried to change quickly, hoping that no one would notice, those hopes were quickly dashed almost as soon as he took of his shirt. "Woah… what's with the flashlight on your chest?" one of the other students, Kaminari if he recalled correctly, said, "You a cyborg or something?" he said with a laugh.

Tony looked towards his classmate, technically he wasn't wrong, "It's a miniaturized arc reactor." The confusion on the other's faces was evident so Tony decided to elaborate, "Basically it's a highly efficient energy source…" Tony wanted to continue with an explanation on how it worked but was interrupted by Kaminari.

"Ok, that's all well and good, but why is there one in your chest." he asked

This was the question Tony was afraid of, "That's… complicated." He said, downcast. It wasn't that he was ashamed about his implant, nor did the think that the other students would reject him. It was just personal, Tony was only alive today because his mother had shielded him with her body, at the cost of her own life. Yet, despite that it had not been enough to prevent him being crippled for life.

* * *

"You've been taking standardized tests most of your lives." Aizawa began, "But you never got to use your quirks in physical exams before…"

 _"Definitely should have finished the armor…"_ Tony thought.

"The country is still trying to pretend we're all created equal, by not letting those with the most power excel. It's not rational." Aizawa continued, "Bakugo you got the highest score on the entrance exam, what was your furthest distance with the softball throw?"

"67 meters I think." Bakugo, the aforementioned token asshat, replied.

"Try it with your quirk." Aizawa said as he tossed a softball towards the student.

"Alright man, you asked for it."

Bakugo produced a large explosion that stunned the rest of his classmates, Aizawa was the only one who seemed unphased. "705 meters… not bad" Aizawa said

 _"Oh shit… this isn't going to be what I think it is, is it?"_ Tony thought.

"You'll be competing in 8 physical tests to gauge your potential, use everything you have at your disposal to increase your performance…"

 _"Ok… not the worst thing in the world."_

"Whoever comes in last has no potential and will be expelled."

" _Shit."_ Tony was racking his mind to come up with an idea. He couldn't rely on his innate physical prowess because frankly, he had none. He spent years tied to a car battery, often in a wheelchair unable to even stand up. It wasn't until he built his first arc reactor that he was able to even walk comfortably. The most exercise he'd gotten since the accident was when Dr. Yensin put him in physical therapy after he built the reactor. Years of carrying around a car battery really screwed up Tony's muscular development, and though he went through the necessary physical therapy, his athletic performance was lackluster. Now all his hard work over the past year was on the line… again.

 **Test 1:** **50-meter dash**

It was only the first test and all the other students had already been using their quirks to their full potential. Tenya Iida, who's quirk was some form of super speed, blasted through the finish line in record time. Interestingly one other student seemed to not be using his quirk, even so Izuku Midoriya managed a respectable 7 seconds. Tony was the odd man out, he was racing alone, unfortunately. He really needed to get into shape, he managed an embarrassing 9 seconds. Needless to say, the first test was a failure.

 **Test 2: Grip Strength**

"You will be using these devices to measure your grip strength in kilograms. Once you have your best score, show me and we can move onto the next test." Aizawa explained

" _My gauntlets do increase my strength significantly, but it's not guaranteed to keep me out of last place."_ Tony thought as he studied the machine, " _God I can't believe people still use these things, they're so easy to…_ " Tony thought as a smile formed on is face. He rummaged through his toolbelt and pulled out a screwdriver, he finally had his winning strategy.

"Mr. Aizawa I've finished." Tony said as he handed the device back to his teacher.

"Took you long enough," he said as he looked at the number, "What the hell…" Aizawa was shocked, because on the screen was the highest grip strength Aizawa had ever seen, 9999 kilograms.

Aizawa took Tony aside, "Do you think this is a game?" he asked angrily. "I read your file, there's no way you have a grip strength this high!"

Tony feigned shock, "Mr. Aizawa! You said we could, and I quote, 'use anything we have at our disposal to increase our performance', you never said it had to be a quirk." He said, twirling the screwdriver in his hand. Tony was nervous however, he did not want the other students to know of his quirklessness, at least not yet.

"Listen kid, let me be straight with you… you don't belong here." Aizawa said, no deadpan, no anger, just genuine concern for Tony. "Hero work is dangerous, and you being quirkless not only puts yourself in danger, but others as well."

Tony was getting pissed off, "Listen, just because I'm quirkless doesn't mean I'm helpless. I'm more capable than you know, and I'll prove it." Tony said as he walked off.

As Tony walked outside to prepare for the next test, Aizawa smiled, _"_ I'll give you a pass this time, since I'm honestly a little impressed." He said, "but you're going to have to try a whole lot harder to fool me next time."

Tony looked back and gave the best shit-eating grin he could, "It's about time I had a real challenge, I hope you can keep up."

 **Test 3: Standing Long Jump**

Thankfully the third test would finally allow Tony to show off his inventions to the class, though technically he had gotten the idea from watching one of the other students. Bakugo, the same student who threw the baseball over 700 meters, used the explosions he produced to propel himself across the sand pit. Tony was able to use the repulsor blasts to a similar degree to secure himself an acceptable score, it wasn't too impressive but certainly more than an average person.

"Woah!" one of the other students, Denki Kaminari, commented, "Dude those gloves are seriously badass! You think those lasers are his quirk?"

"No, they look different from the blasts I saw him use in the entrance exam." Mina answered, the eyes of the entire class now focused on her. She blushed slightly, "We were in the same battle center, it's hard to ignore a guy shooting lasers out of his hands!"

 **Test 4: Repeated side steps**

Absolute Failure.

 **Test 5: Ball Throw**

All but two students had performed this test, Tony Stark and Izuku Midoriya. Most students have had at least a few really good scores, hell one girl even got infinity! Tony just had the grip strength and he wasn't even sure if Aizawa would accept it. Though this next test presented a certain opportunity to test a new feature he'd been working on.

He stepped into the circle with the ball,"Mr. Aizawa, you said we can do anything as long as we do not leave this circle, right?"

Aizawa sighed, "Yes, but don't push it Stark."

Tony smiled, "Alright, watch and learn children! This is how you throw a baseball back in the US of A." He declared, deliberately leaving out the fact that he hadn't been to America since he was 6. "JARVIS, it's time to test the rocketry give me a firing angle" Tony muttered as he pulled his forearm part way out of the gauntlet.

As he did so, the gauntlet's fingers sealed around the baseball. Vents opened on the side of the gauntlet as Tony disconnected it from his reactor. "Sir you have 30 seconds to launch before power is lost, angle your arm at approximately 46 degrees upward and I'll ignite the rocketry on your command"

Taking aim and stabilizing his arm, tony gave the command, "Now." the gauntlet rocketed off his hand at high speed. The entire class watched the metallic hand rocket up into the sky with the ball still in its hands. At the height of its arc, the rockets gave out and the gauntlet plummeted towards the Earth. Turning to Aizawa with a smile, "Was that acceptable?" he asked with a hint of sarcasm.

Moments later Aizawa looked down at his phone, turning it around to show Tony his distance. "502.7 meters… not bad at all."

"Great!" Tony said proudly, "Now do you mind if I go get my hand back?" Tony said, earning a laugh from the class.

Aizawa on the other hand was less amused, "Let your classmates finish first, Midoriya! You're up!" he said, tossing Midoriya a spare ball.

As Midoriya walked stood in the middle of the circle, the nervousness on his face was evident. Tony realized that he had yet to see him use his quirk. _"Well if he passed the exam he should have no problem with these tests"_ he thought before remembering, " _Wait… this is the guy who passed on rescue points alone! His quirk could be useless for these kinds of tests!"_

Midoriya pulled back his arm, preparing to throw the baseball with all his might, a look of determination l clearly on his face as he released the ball into the sky.

46 meters.

Midoriya looked down at his hand in confusion, as if he expected so much more.

"I erased your quirk" Aizawa said his black hair now flowing upwards, clutching the scarf around his neck. "The judges for this exam were not rational enough." He as he turned toward Tony who now saw his eyes glowing red, "Someone like you should never be allowed to enroll at this school." Tony got the message, he wasn't just talking to Midoriya.

"Wait! I know you… You're Eraserhead aren't you!" Midoriya said as Aizawa turned his attention back towards Midoriya.

"You don't even have control over your power. Were you planning on breaking your bones again? Counting on someone else to save your useless body?"

"N-No that's not what I was trying to-" He was cut off as Aizawa used his scarf to pull the young man closer.

"Even if you have the drive to become a hero… you're worthless if you can only throw a single punch! I'm sorry, but with your power there's no way you can become a hero." With that final line, his hair fell back down to its natural state. "I've returned your impractical quirk… take your best shot."

Midoriya walked back to the center of the circle. Clearly struggling due to what Aizawa had told him. However, as he threw his arm back once more, that look of determination returned to his face. Without warning, the ball shot up into the air at incredible speed.

"What in the goddamn…" Tony said quietly. The force behind that throw was incredible, that ball might have even broken the sound barrier! When Tony looked back towards the young man who had produced such incredible forces, what Aizawa had said to him began to make sense. Midoriya's finger was broken and mangled, though that only made what he had just seen more incredible. "JARVIS… did he just do that all with one finger?" Tony muttered.

"I believe he did sir." JARVIS answered through Tony's earpiece.

"Mr. Aizawa." Midoriya declared through the pain, "I'm still standing!"

Tony was still preforming calculations in his head, trying to figure out the potential force that Midoriya could produce if he used his entire arm, when Bakugo ran towards Midoriya with rage. "DEKU YOU BASTARD TELL ME HOW YOU DID THAT OR YOU'RE DEAD!"

Thankfully Aizawa captured his explosive classmate with his scarf, "What the hell, how is this damn thing so strong."

Aizawa was about to explain but he was cut off by Tony, "Because it's made from carbon fiber and a specialized alloy of-" he stopped himself, "Sorry, don't want to just give away company secrets, do I?! It's a special capture weapon designed by yours truly, though I never did find out who it was for…" he said looking at Aizawa, "Basically you're not getting out of it 'splosion boy, I don't half-ass this kind of stuff."

Aizawa was surprised by this, while he knew his scarf was produced by Stark Industries he never expected it to have been designed by a child, he managed to subdue his curiosity enough to keep his eyes on Bakugo, keeping his quirk in check. "I recommend you stand down… using my quirk for so long gives me serious dry eye."

He released his hold on Bakugo, "You're wasting my time now… lets move on to the next test" he said.

"You're welcome by the way." Tony said smugly as Aizawa walked past.

* * *

 **AN: Ok so I suppose I owe you guys an explanation… first finals happened… I passed everything thankfully. Then I started working a lot this summer, need money for next year and everything… and I'll be honest I _might_ have started another story…. Yeah, I know I've been cheating on you but I just couldn't get the idea out of my head! To be honest, if I didn't already have most of this written it wouldn't have come out for a looong time. But then I saw this story had over 100 followers (thanks for that btw) and I couldn't just abandon you! As for my other story… that's going to be my main focus. Not that I'm going to ignore this story or anything… it's just that I'm honestly enjoying writing the other one more at this moment. **

**As for what it's about… well stop me if you've heard this before… It's a Familiar of Zero story where Louise summons something that isn't Saito! No wait! Don't leave its not a crossover I swear! Instead of Louise summoning a character from another series that absolutely wrecks the entire universe with their pure amazingness and kicks out the nobility because fuck the bourgeoisie, Viva la Revolution, power to the people, and all that crap, Louise summons a Crusader from the First Crusade. It's called "Crusader of Zero" and honestly, I think it's my best work so far. I try to incorporate a lot of the obscure history facts I know about the period (as I'm Majoring in History) which is the main reason I'm having a lot of fun writing it.**

 **Thanks for reading and I'll try not to take as long writing the next chapter!**


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